The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
The assignee of the present disclosure is a leader in vehicle article carrier systems. Patents assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure, which relate to article carrier systems having stowable cross bars, include U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,528,799; 8,235,264; 8,348,111; 8,276,974; 8,028,875; 7448,523; 7,090,103; 8,251,267; 8,096,454; 7,066,364; 6,811,066 and 6,959,845, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure.
Vehicle article carrier systems with stowable cross bars are growing significantly in popularity. Such systems enable the cross bars to be stowed in position parallel to their associated support rails, and articulated into an operative position extending perpendicularly between the support rails. When in the stowed position, the cross bars and support rails form highly aerodynamically efficient subassemblies and reduce the chance for any wind noise. With a “swing-in-place” vehicle article carrier system, each of the cross bars is further secured at one of its ends to one of the support rails. Thus, there is no possibility of the cross bar being completely detached from the vehicle and left at some location (e.g., the vehicle owner's home), and thus the cross bars will always be available for use. Operating the vehicle with the cross bars in the stowed positions may also help to improve the fuel economy of the vehicle. The ability of the user to quickly and easily change the configuration of the cross bars from a stowed orientation to an operative orientation, without requiring external tools, also adds to the utility and appeal of these article carrier systems.
In view of the strong interest in vehicle article carrier systems with stowable cross bars, there is a continuing interest in enhancing the design and construction of such systems to even further enhance the ease of use of such systems as well as provide systems that may be manufactured even more cost effectively than previous systems.